Desi rappers

College students and rappers Vivek Ram and MC Mike are going great guns giving some 20 performances every season. They just finished a performance at the audio launch of Tollywood movie 'Break-Up'. However, they doubt if rapping can be turned into a full-time career. Suhani Dewra When Hyderabadis thought rapping was something only Eminem could do, Vivek Ram and Murali Krishna were busy forming a team of rappers. Vivek, who was into singing and producing music out of anything, collaborated with Murali (now known as MC Mike), a hip-hop dancer, to form their rapper's team 'Stitcherz' in 2010. "My acquaintance with rapping happened in Class VI when my cousins from the US gifted me CD of album 'Get Rich or Die Trying' by American rapper 50 Cent. I liked the style so much that I gradually became a fan of rapping," recalls Vivek, a third year Mass Communications student at Hyderabad-based Loyola Degree College. "I wanted to be a singer, but surprisingly found myself to be better at rapping," he adds. The duo got their big break when they were recently invited to perform a fusion rap at the audio launch of Telugu movie 'Break Up'. "We rapped to local tappu," remembers Mike. The young rappers have also rapped for Tollywood movie Alexander and have yet another similar project in their kitty. Each of the two rappers adds their unique talent in their performances. Vivek brings in his electronic music production quality with rapping while Mike lends his hip-hop dance style as his raps. "Vivek gives desi touch to our rap performances and I add funk," says 21-year-old Mike. During their initial days the youngsters learnt the art of rhyming and other nuances of rapping by listening to popular rappers from across the world. So how do they make a rap piece? "The songs are pre-made. But while performing, we add spontaneous lines to it based on what is going in the crowd. This is called freestyle in our language," informs Vivek, 20. In a season, the Stitcherz give nearly 20 performances and the thousands that they earn are spent on buying musical equipments for Vivek, and getting tattoos inked and sourcing graffiti paint for Mike. So, with projects already landing them, do Vivek and Mike plan to make a full-time career in rapping? "In a city like Hyderabad where Tollywood songs are a rage, it's hard for rapping to fetch me enough money. I doubt if I can take it as a full-time career in future. I, therefore, plan to study sound engineering which will always keep me connect to music," shares Vivek. For Mike, acting is the ultimate calling. "I won't mind one bit taking up projects apart from rapping. Look at Honey Singh; he is a rapper, but also sings for Bollywood movies. Like him, I am willing to be flexible and not just be a rapper. Actor, of course, is what I aspire to be eventually," says Mike.